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Summary GCSE Macbeth quotes and analysis notes
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In-depth and detailed grade 9 AQA GCSE Macbeth quotations and analysis. Includes: the act/scene, quotation, analysis, theme it relates to.
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Macbeth quotesAct/scene Quotation Analysis Theme
Act 1, scene 1 “Fair is foul and foul o Trochaic tetrameter and rhyming couplets used to supernatural
The Witches is fair hover heighten spooky and mysterious atmosphere and
through the fog and further establishes supernatural theme
filthy air” o The juxtaposition phrase ‘fair is foul and foul is fair’ it
alludes to how the witches violate the natural order
of the great chain of being creating a sense of chaos
and disorder and also foreshadows that dark deeds
are about to happen which captures and pulls in the
audience
Act 1, scene 1 “Valour of my o Their use of language to tempt and control bears Supernatural
The Witches tongue” connotations of satanic imagery and the snake in the
garden of Eden
o They are female and so this is the only way women
can have power
o The serpent used untrustworthy language to tempt
Eve, in the garden of Eden, through twisting what
God had said and claiming he didn’t want them to
become like him; the fruit wasn’t really forbidden
Act 1, scene 1 “imperfect o They speak in riddles that are meant to be Supernatural
The Witches speakers" misunderstood and Macbeth chooses to ignore this
as his greed for power overcomes him
o Therefore it could be argued that they are not
controlling fate, rather they are allowing Macbeth to
gain validation of the desires he already has
o Their words are vague and ambiguous because they
are not a source of control but a source of
temptation
Act 1, scene 1 “Double, double, o The horror of the witches is reasserted through supernatural
Macbeth toil and trouble, fire choral chants, trochaic tetrameter, rhyming couplets
burn and cauldron o By chanting to ‘double, toil and trouble’ Shakespeare
bubble” foreshadows the further damage done to Macbeth as
a result seeing three apparitions leading to his death
o The fact that the witches want to cause more evil
heightens their monstrous nature and serves as a
warning to the Jacobean audience that they should
not be trusted
Act 1, scene 4 “Stars, hide your o Perverts Duncan’s earlier comparison of nobility of Ambition
Macbeth fires, let not light stars (“but signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine
see my black and on all deservers). He modifies the laudatory language
deep desires” which Duncan uses, and with direct address
commands the starts darkness
o ‘Black’ connotes evil and death and reflects
Macbeth’s moral unscrupulousness
o Demonstrates the speed at which Macbeth is
corrupted by the promise of power as he is already
trying to cover his bloodlust
o ‘stars’ and ‘fires’ create a semantic field of light which
connotes religious imagery, Macbeth wants to hide
his desires from God as he knows its wrong
o Furthermore, the juxtaposition between the concept
of light and the descriptive adjective ‘black’ suggests
that Macbeth is inwardly conflicted between a path
of ambition and morality
o The alliteration used in ‘deep desires’ emphasises
how Macbeth has become corrupt by overpowering
ambition as it controls his thoughts and soon actions
Act 1, scene 7 “His virtues will o The semantic field of heaven is employed to Ambition
Macbeth plead like angels, emphasise the holy nature of Duncan and his rightful
trumpet tongued, place as king which is further highlighted through the
against the deep
, damnation of his fact that Macbeth prefigures the spirit of Duncan to
taking-off” be associated with heaven
o The simile ‘his virtues will plead like angels’ depicts
the innocent nature of King Duncan and draws
attention to how he is aligned with righteousness
accentuating his purity
o The alliteration ‘trumpet tongued’ conveys the
volume of outcry that will happen as a result of
Duncan’s death therefore stressing how wrong his
death is
o The alliteration of ‘deep damnation’ highlights how
evil the action that is about to take place is, the fact
that Macbeth is condemning Duncan to ‘damnation’
aligns him with the devil illustrating how far away
from God he is
Act 1, scene 7 “I have no spur to o Shakespeare’s use of the metaphorical ‘vaulting Ambition
Macbeth prick the sides of ambition’ epitomises the inherent and unstoppable
my intent, but only desire for power within Macbeth
vaulting ambition o This is an image of a horseman attempting to mount
with overleaps his horse but is too eager and falls regardless
itself” o The verb ‘overleaps itself’ strongly foreshadows the
tragic hero’s own demise in the play. He fails to take
heed of his own warning, instead becoming hubristic
and complacent. This also creates a comedic imagery
which foreshadows Macbeth’s laughable ignorance
Act 1, scene 7 “False face must o Repetition of the adjectives ‘false’ emphasises the Appearance
Macbeth hide what the false dishonest nature of the plot and also displays vs reality
heart doth know” Macbeth’s descent into evil
o Echo of Lady Macbeth flower quote symbolising how
she is in his head and also shows how she has
successfully ‘pour my spirits in thine ear’
o Intertextual link to fair is foul and flower quote
o The rhyming couplet used in Macbeth’s last line
before the scene ends mirrors that of the witches,
illustrating how Macbeth is influenced by the witches
prophecy but also Lady Macbeth’s manipulation
Act 2, scene 1 “is this a dagger I o This hallucination is a manifestation of Macbeth’s Guilt
Macbeth see before me” guilt as well as his power-lust and is the product of
the supernatural
o Could also be seen as something created by the
witches to cajole him into the murder of Duncan
o Jacobean audience would see this as the work of the
devil which enhances the ominous and eerie
atmosphere
o marks the start of his mental deterioration as well as
his reliance with the supernatural
o ‘Handle toward my hand’ reveals how his ambition is
compelling him to fulfil his dark intentions but also
implies how Macbeth has fully decided on murdering
the king, this could also be interpreted as him trying
to justify killing the king and seeing as his fate which
links to how the Jacobean audience believed in fate
and so Macbeth sees murdering the king as
something that is beyond his control
Act 1, scene 1 “Proceeding from a o Illustrates Macbeth’s intense heightened emotional Ambition
Macbeth heat-oppressed state which suggests that due to the state of extreme
brain” desire, he may not be thinking straight and therefore
his mind (guilt) is deluding him
o The adjective ‘heat’ reflects the ‘heat’ of his ambition
– the ferocity of his ambition causes him to question
whether he is starting to see things
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